1976 Open Championship


The 1976 Open Championship was the 105th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Johnny Miller won his only Open championship, six strokes ahead of runners-up Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. It was Miller's second and last major championship title; his first was the U.S. Open in 1973.
Ballesteros, age 19, was the 54-hole leader at 211, two strokes ahead of Miller. In the final round, he was seven over par after twelve holes, which included a triple-bogey at the eleventh. Ballesteros rallied on the final six holes, with three birdies and an eagle, to tie Nicklaus for second place.
Defending champion Tom Watson carded an 80 in the third round for 227 and missed the second cut by a stroke. U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate was level par after two rounds, but also missed the second cut with an 87 for Masters winner Raymond Floyd finished in fourth at 286, a stroke behind Ballesteros and Nicklaus.

Past champions in the field

Made both cuts

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Missed the second cut

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Missed the first cut

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 7 July 1976
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Seve Ballesteros69−3
T1Christy O'Connor Jnr69−3
T1Norio Suzuki69−3
T4Brian Barnes70−2
T4Tom Kite70−2
T4Jack Newton70−2
T7Bill Brask71−1
T7John Fourie71−1
T7Graham Marsh71−1
T10Bob Charles72E
T10Jan Dorrestein72E
T10Hubert Green72E
T10Johnny Miller72E
T10Gary Player72E

Second round

Thursday, 8 July 1976
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Seve Ballesteros69-69=138−6
2Johnny Miller72-68=140−4
T3Hubert Green72-70=142−2
T3Christy O'Connor Jnr69-73=142−2
T5Brian Barnes70-73=143−1
T5Raymond Floyd76-67=143−1
T5Tommy Horton74-69=143−1
T8George Burns75-69=144E
T8Carl Higgins77-67=144E
T8Guy Hunt76-68=144E
T8Tom Kite70-74=144E
T8Graham Marsh71-73=144E
T8Jack Newton70-74=144E
T8Jack Nicklaus74-70=144E
T8Jerry Pate73-71=144E
T8Gary Player72-72=144E
T8Norio Suzuki69-75=144E

Amateurs: McEvoy, Squires, Powell, Poxon, McNally, McLean, Ridley.

Third round

Friday, 9 July 1976
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Seve Ballesteros69-69-73=211−5
2Johnny Miller72-68-73=213−3
3Tommy Horton74-69-72=215−1
T4Graham Marsh71-73-72=216E
T4Jack Nicklaus74-70-72=216E
T4Raymond Floyd76-67-73=216E
T7Tom Kite70-74-73=217+1
T7Christy O'Connor Jnr69-73-75=217+1
T9Bobby Cole75-71-72=218+2
T9Brian Barnes70-73-75=218+2

Source:

Final round

Saturday, 10 July 1976
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Johnny Miller72-68-73-66=279−97,500
T2Jack Nicklaus74-70-72-69=285−35,250
T2Seve Ballesteros69-69-73-74=285−35,250
4Raymond Floyd76-67-73-70=286−23,800
T5Mark James76-72-74-66=288E2,820
T5Hubert Green72-70-78-68=288E2,820
T5Tom Kite70-74-73-71=288E2,820
T5Christy O'Connor Jnr69-73-75-71=288E2,820
T5Tommy Horton74-69-72-73=288E2,820
T10George Burns75-69-75-70=289+11,975
T10Peter Butler74-72-73-70=289+11,975
T10Vicente Fernández79-71-69-70=289+11,975
T10Norio Suzuki69-75-75-70=289+11,975

Source:

Scorecard

Final round
Hole1234;56789101112131415161718
Par444344344443535455
Miller−2−3−3−3−3−3−3−4−4−4−4−5−7−7−7−7−8−9
Ballesteros−5−4−4−4−4−2−2−1−1−2+1+2+1EEE−2−3
NicklausEE−1−2−2EEEEEE+1E1−1−1−2−3
FloydEEEE−1−2−1−1E−1−1E−1−1−1−1−1−2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+

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